


Best Man For The Job

by agentsimmons



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Romantic Comedy, Alternate Universe - Romantic Drama, Bruce Banner Feels, Bruce is cured, Chick-Flick Moments, Comic Book Science, Fluff and Crack, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Minor Bruce Banner/Betty Ross, Mutual Pining, Romantic Fluff, Science Boyfriends, Tony Being Tony, Tony Stark Feels, Weddings, everybody's probably ooc and too soft, hand wavy explanations of pretty much everything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-16 06:17:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4614402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentsimmons/pseuds/agentsimmons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After several months with The Avengers, a fateful encounter with HYDRA leaves Bruce without his alter ego. No longer the Hulk, Bruce is able to return to his former life with Betty and get married. Of course, things get complicated when Bruce asks Tony to be his best man and buried feelings are brought back to the surface. (Reads like a Romantic Drama AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Best Man For The Job

**Author's Note:**

> I'm publishing this as a promise to my friend for helping me through an existential crisis (/dramatic) otherwise it might not have seen the light of day. 
> 
> The overall piece was inspired after she and I had a three day binge of romcoms and romdramas last month and I felt the urge (once again) to drop Tony and Bruce into a ridiculously auish and ooc setting (think that Black Widow SNL skit?) where everything's soft and romantic and they dance around each other and pine and don't always know the depth of their feelings and basically it's just like a really bad and convoluted chick flick where you scream at the screen "OH MY GOD JUST TELL EACH OTHER HOW YOU FEEL IT'S NOT THAT HARD! WHAT THE HELL YOU JUST KISSED HOW ARE YOU STILL THIS STUPID?" Also because I was trying to make it more concise like a movie with scenes there's a lot of stuff left between the lines, open ended, and some scenes are short (which is partially why I wasn't really sold on publishing it; don't know if it'll make sense outside of my head).
> 
> It's told in snippets, between present time and flashback. Because I realize that flashback is not always easy on people's eyes, I used the "flashback" css. If you are one of those who do not like italicized flashbacks in biggish chunks, then you can disable and still be able to follow based on the following: save the first scene, anything from Tony's pov is flashback and anything with Bruce's pov is current. During those flashback scenes, emphasized text is also bold so there will be a little inconsistency there.

He could hear them. Their voices were foggy and distant, but they were there. They were almost familiar. They were concerned.

He couldn't respond. His voice hadn't been used in days. He almost forgot the sound of it. The only voice clear in his mind was that of a dark-haired, brilliant physicist.

 _You need to get up, Tony._ It was low and even _. I know I said you needed to sleep, but this is taking it a little too far._ Humor now. That subtle wit that balanced his own obnoxious bon mots.

If he closed his eyes long enough he could even see him. Wan smile. Dark eyes narrowed in worry. Curls he'd let get a little unruly, maybe because he knew Tony was fond of them. He opened his eyes again. No. He hadn't done that for him. That's not what they'd had together.

There was a time it seemed their friendship had been leading to that. He could even let himself believe it would have led to that, that Bruce had been marginally interested in testing the theory of whatever it was between them, if only he hadn't messed up like he always did.

But it had only been an illusion. He wondered if Loki himself hadn't done something to create it, a final blow to compensate for Tony 's heart not having been affected and Hulk having smashed him into the ground. Maybe this was what Loki had wanted him to think… Maybe everything between the two geniuses had been an illusion so that when Bruce woke up first, it would destroy the belligerent man of iron.

His face was impassive and his eyes remained dead, fixed on a space in the distance – he had long since lost awareness of what it was he was even staring at – but inside he snorted derisively at himself. It was almost easier to believe that it had been the doing of some god of mischief. If he truly believed it, that it wasn't anything that had been real, he would get up from wherever it was he had laid down several days before and go on with his life.

But, no, it had been real for him. And the reason Bruce had left was because he'd been given his freedom. He didn't have to settle any longer for maybe second best. He could finally have the things he wanted. None of those things were Tony.

 _That's not true._ His thoughts still sounded eerily like Bruce, but this time it wasn't as resonant. More like a facsimile this time.

It was accurate just the same and that almost made it worse. Bruce did still want him in his life. Tony knew Bruce still considered him his best friend and it wasn't that they hadn't seen or spoken with one another since he'd gone. But before it had been easier to ignore, to push past, to pretend this was all okay, that _he_ was okay.

"Tony, you have to get up." Pepper's distinct voice broke through his darkness and finally he could recognize that she and Rhodey were hovering over him, slightly terrified by his listless state.

"What did this to you, man?" Rhodey's question nearly triggered the downward spiral all over. But then he added, "Bruce says you haven't returned any of his calls. He's so worried he was about to hop a flight out here to check on you himself. Come on, man. This isn't a good look. Have you been drinking?" He looked around for the tell-tale traces of a binge.

Tony snorted again, or attempted to. No, no alcohol. He'd tried that for the first few hours after receiving Bruce's message. But all he could see was Bruce's perfect face twisted in disappointment. All he could hear was Bruce's voice begging him to stop.

"Bruce?" So that's what his voice sounded like. It was no wonder Bruce had made the choice he did. It was such a disgusting sound.

"Yeah, Bruce is worried," Rhodey reiterated. "We all are," he added.

Bruce was worried. God, even in this state of misery the man could cut down to that tattered, poor excuse for a heart, hiding beneath his reactor and make him feel something other than self-pity. He couldn't do this to Bruce. He couldn't worry him. Bruce still cared and Tony cared too much. He would have to make himself get up. He would have to make himself get over this.

"Tony, what happened?"

Pepper was looking at him directly and Tony registered after a moment that it was because he had managed to pull himself up into a sitting position. He was on his couch apparently.

"JARVIS," he grunted with his disgusting-sounding voice. "Play the message."

**_I don't believe that would be wise under the circumstan-_ **

"Play it," he growled. He almost sounded like Bruce. Almost.

The room lit up with a holographic screen and Bruce's beautiful face assaulted him before he had a chance to brace for it. Then again, there could be no bracing for it.

"Hi, Tony. JARVIS said you're resting. That's good. I told him not to disturb you. You can call me back when you're able. So, uh, yeah. I'm…"A soft smile spread across his lips.

Tony closed his eyes. He'd had that smile for months. He'd almost tasted those lips.

"I'm getting married next month. Kind of short notice, but it's a small affair and Betty's getting a little impatient. Well, maybe we both are after everything. But I'd really like you to be my best man. If you want. I mean, I hope you'd want to. It would probably be a little awkward if you asked someone to be your best man and then you found out they really don't like you and- I'm rambling aren't I? Wedding nerves I guess. Um, so, I look forward to hearing from you. And seeing you. It's…"

There was the pause. Tony had memorized that pause as many times as he'd replayed the message, torturing himself. He opened his eyes and saw the emotion on Bruce's face. He'd spent too many hours trying to figure out what that emotion might be.

"It's definitely boring without you, Tony," Bruce finished, a small smile in place. "Talk to you later."

And then he was gone just as quickly as he'd appeared. Like a sad echo of how it had really been. In his life and then out of it.

 _No, not out of it_ , he firmly reminded himself again. He wanted him in it. Tony was the one refusing to be there. He was the one letting Bruce down now after demanding Bruce not forget him, hypocritical as always.

"JARVIS," Tony said with all the strength he could muster, ignoring the way Pepper and Rhodey all but gaped at him. "Send a reply to Bruce and let him know my answer is yes."

* * * *

Bruce felt a little like he was in a movie. He was standing in an airfield, several yards away from a Stark Industries plane, and he more or less had the urge to run to the man who'd just emerged from it. He didn't run, but he did walk very briskly and he ignored Tony's outstretched hand in favor of a tight hug.

"Don't ever scare me like that again," he admonished as he held his best friend close.

He didn't particularly want to let go any time soon, but he knew he had to. He pulled away, but still kept his hands on Tony's shoulders as he looked at him seriously.

"Sorry again," Tony replied, looking a little sheepish. It didn't suit him.

"You better be," Bruce said with a shaky laugh. "I was so worried and upset that I kept thinking Hulk was going to show up again. Betty had to keep reassuring me he wouldn't, but I think even she started to wonder there for a little bit."

He gave Tony's shoulder a squeeze and then finally backed away so they could walk back to his car.

Tony cleared his throat. "So, now that I'm here, what's on the agenda, future Mr. Ross?"

Bruce's head fell back on his shoulders in a laugh. He then nodded.

"Ah, yep. It does feel a little bit like that's how it's gonna be." They reached his car and he opened the trunk for the steward that had followed with Tony's luggage. "Well, I guess the first thing is to take you back to the house so you can unpack. Unless… I can still book you a room at the hotel. Not sure casa de Ross is exactly what you're used to. And it might get a little tight in a few days when her friends and family start piling in."

Bruce studied Tony carefully as he considered it. They stood on opposite sides of his car, looking at one another, but Bruce's mind was somewhere else. While he waited for Tony's answer, he couldn't help thinking about how good it felt to have Tony near again. They'd seen each other too few times over the past eight months when they'd spent almost that long side by side, practically inseparable. They'd been joined at the hip, science bros as affectionately termed by the team and something Tony had all too gladly rolled with just to exasperate him - he missed it now.

It had been like a strange dream within an even stranger reality. Some days he almost wished he hadn't woken up, but he always chastised himself for it later. He had everything he'd ever wanted again, a second chance. It didn't make sense to wish for something that he'd only had because of his nightmare.

"How about I stay with you for a few days and then I can find a hotel before it starts filling up at your place? And I'll go ahead and book all the rooms the team will need. Sound good?"

Bruce blinked. "Uh, yeah, but you don't need to accommodate-"

"Yes, I do. You asked me to be your best man, Bruce. But you know me by now. I'm going to be your better than the very best man instead."

Then Tony flashed him his megawatt smile before sliding into the passenger seat. Bruce was immediately reminded of why he sometimes wished he'd never woken up.

* * * *

Tony smiled over at the man in his passenger seat, looking pretty damn good compared to the painfully reserved physicist he'd been on the Helicarrier. It seemed like as good a time as any to capitalize on that.

"So, I know Fury's let us all go for the time being, but wanna be in on the ground floor?"

Bruce furrowed his brow and twisted in his seat and leaned back a little as if to see him better. It suddenly occurred to Tony that the man was farsighted and had lost his glasses in the explosion aboard ship. They would need to remedy that.

"Ground floor?"

"Yeah, Fury wants this thing to be a more permanent gig and not so much a 'hey, let's track them down from all corners of the world at any moment' gig."

"Well, the first one's less of a mouthful anyway," Bruce quipped. Tony could get used to Bruce's wit.

"Mmhmm. Once they came up with the acronym for SHIELD, they never looked back. So basically I was talking to Fury after the debrief and the plan's simple. Avengers Tower."

"Is it a big ugly building in New York?" Bruce asked with a thin smile, but Tony could see the calculating look in his eyes. He definitely knew where this was going.

"It really depends on who you ask," Tony joked. "But since the tower needs a bit of a remodel now—"

"Sorry."

"Don't be," he dismissed. "Pepper and I are going to turn the residential suites into a bit of a home base for the Avengers and maybe gut some of the offices for a training floor. She just doesn't know it yet."

"Pepper?"

"Oh, right. You missed out on some things. Not that I assume you ever kept up with the genius of Stark Industries when you were around, but she's my company's CEO now and my stable…ish? Stable-ish girlfriend."

"Ah. Well, I can definitely say I did pay attention to the…something of Stark Industries. I was in a military contract after all."

"The word you were looking for was genius," Tony teased, flashing him a smile before turning to look back at the road ahead. They could ignore the elephant in the room at the moment regarding the Hulkbuster weapons.

"No, I'm pretty sure it wasn't. I was trying to find a way to limit radiation damage caused by weapons like yours. So you can imagine I wasn't a huge fan. Of the weapons, I mean."

Tony considered that for a second. In hindsight he wasn't a huge fan of the weapons either. But he didn't want to dwell on that. He was still trying to seduce the breathtaking man beside him into sticking around, rejoining society, coming to work with him.

"So it's still entirely possible for me to interpret that to mean you were a huge fan of me, if not my weapons." He offered him another smile, a cheeky one, as they waited at a red light.

"Of course," Bruce deadpanned. "But, yes, I did keep up with Stark Industries off and on for various reasons. I wasn't aware you had a new CEO though."

"Yeah, handed it over to her when I was dying a few years back." He didn't miss the confusion on Bruce's face at that. "Anyway, so back on topic. The Avengers. It's going to be a pretty permanent gig within the next couple of months or so. My question is, think you'd want to be a part of that?"

"Uh… I- I never planned on… It's not safe."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Well, yeah. I'm definitely not safe to be around. I'll give you that one. But I'd like it if you did. Stick around. You can work with me on SI stuff and on the rebuilding of the Avengers thing and then you'll already be here when it all takes off."

Tony took a sideways glance at the man. The fact that he didn't answer right away told him he was at least considering the proposition.

"Maybe," he finally said. "No promises. I accepted your invitation to visit Candy-land so we'll see how it goes from there, yeah?"

Tony could hear the unspoken, 'but don't count on it.' Thankfully, he was good at working with that much wriggle room.

"Sounds good," he said easily and grabbed his phone. "Hey, JARVIS. Hit me up with the nearest and best rated optometry shop."

The soft, appreciative smile that spread across Bruce's face at the request made Tony feel pleasant in a way he hadn't felt in a very long time. And it made him determined to keep Dr. Bruce Banner as close as possible. After the last few days he'd had, destiny didn't seem like such an impossibility after all and he had a feeling they were destined to be friends.

* * * *

"Banner," Bruce gave his name to the maître d. "I'm expecting another party."

"Ah, a beautiful woman and handsome man, yes?" The slightly older man asked, voice accented.

Bruce offered him a small smile and nod. "Yeah, I guess Dr. Samson is handsome enough," he said with a shrug, noticing Tony's raised eyebrow beside him.

He had explained on the way from the airport that Betty was going to meet them for dinner that night, but he hadn't mentioned that a Dr. Leonard Samson would be joining them. He wasn't sure why exactly, but it just didn't seem like a good idea to bring it up.

"Oh, but no worries, your partner is much more handsome," the maître d offered kindly as he called for a young waiter to show them to the table.

"Thank you," Tony replied with one of the only genuine smiles Bruce had yet to see since he'd landed earlier in the afternoon.

He would ignore the restaurant worker's presumptuous nature for that reason alone. Tony had seemed off, different, distant even, all day and it worried him. He could only wonder if it was still what had made him go off the grid for nearly a week. He wanted to see Tony smile.

"Figures," he said under his breath as they followed the waiter.

"What?"

"First time we step out together and already people are back to thinking we're…" His sentence trailed as that soft smile fell from Tony's face. _Right_. He'd forgotten about Tony's mixed signals on the topic.

"I guess we just look good together," he replied with a nonchalant shrug.

Bruce forced himself to ignore it. He didn't have any need to go wondering about their friendship. He was getting married and his best friend, whom he'd missed as _only a friend_ , he firmly told himself, was there with him. It didn't matter if others saw their natural chemistry as more than what it was.

"There he is," Leonard's voice broke through his thoughts as he and Betty stood to greet them from where they already sat at a circular table.

"Dr. Samson, this is my best friend Tony Stark. Not that I think he needs any introduction. Tony, this is Dr. Leonard Samson. He's a psychiatrist. Maybe you should get his card," he teased.

"He'd retire after three sessions," Tony quipped. "Good to meet you," he then said, shaking the man's hand firmly. Bruce briefly remembered the first time he'd shaken that same hand. It felt like a lifetime ago, but— "And I certainly don't need any reintroduction to the lovely Dr. Ross," Tony said, breaking Bruce's trance so that he saw Tony shaking Betty's hand eagerly. He had to smile at that.

"Thank you," Betty replied with a warm smile. "It'll be so nice to really get to know you, Mr. Stark. Not that I haven't heard all about you already from Bruce, but I'm sure there's probably a million more stories he hasn't shared," she said it with an easy laugh and the other two laughed along.

Bruce wasn't sure why, but he didn't feel like laughing.

* * * *

"Yeah, I knew this was coming," Tony said it bitterly as he tinkered with his gauntlet and ignored the frown that appeared on Pepper's face. "Of course. Why wouldn't it? It's not enough to figure out you might actually want something normal for once. How many times do I have to nearly die to finally deserve something normal for a fucking change?"

He knew he was talking nonsense, but it was the raw truth. Tony Stark in a stable, long term relationship? He should have known not to let himself fall for that one.

"You're being ridiculous."

"Oh, yeah, sure. I'm being ridiculous. Is that what this is about? Is it because I'm changing your precious tower around? Is it because I'm spending too much time here? Is that it? Do you want me to quit? Because I can't—"

"No, I don't want you to quit!" Pepper screamed. He knew he deserved it. He knew he was trying to pin her down as the villain. "God, Tony. You… Do you really think that's the kind of person I am? Really? You know, it doesn't even surprise me if so. And that's exactly what the problem is here."

"Well, what am I supposed to think?" He threw down his screwdriver and looked pointedly at her. "Huh? Because this," he gestured around the workshop, "isn't going away, Pepper. And now that I start taking this damn thing seriously, you want to go awol on me?"

"I'm not going awol. I care about you, Tony. You know I do. But this isn't what I signed up for when I agreed to try us. And, it's fine, really. I would be okay with it. I would keep trying if you—"

"If I what!?" He snapped and she flinched. It was another reason to hate himself. "If I _**what**?_ " He breathed out softer, but still angry.

There was a long, deafening moment of silence as she fixed her crystal eyes on him, pinched just the slightest between her brow.

"If you would just let me in," she said coldly, evenly.

Any lasting love that he thought might have been growing there between them seemed to evaporate immediately. This was the end. He couldn't fix this one.  


He couldn't fix it because she was right. She'd been with him through so much. Assistant to friend to temporary lover. It was a journey that only she had been able to take, but there were things he would never let her see. There were still parts of him that she wasn't welcome to know about. She was right.

"I can't do that," he admitted in defeat, sighing as he did and hanging his head.

He was weak. He was a coward. He was a fucking mess of a man. But he couldn't give her everything.

"I know, Tony." Her voice was soft and right again. It held just enough sympathy to make him wish she'd berate him instead. "That's why we can't do this. I still care about you deeply, but not enough to settle. I would have supported all of this, Tony. As your friend I still will if you need me. But the fact that you didn't already know that isn't my fault."

"I know. I know. It's mine." He did know. She didn't have to keep bringing it up.

"It is. But maybe it's because I'm not the right person for the job. You know? Maybe it's better we stop here before finding that out."

He wanted to snort derisively at that. It was logical, sure. Dodging an emotional bullet was something he'd made a wasted life of perfecting as an art. But if she couldn't even get through to him then there really wasn't any hope for anyone.

"Better for you anyway," he said instead.

"Yes, better for me." She had never been shy. She was open and honest. "Because I'm not going to be in half a relationship if deep down you don't really want me. But hopefully better for you too. I mean that. I want you to be happy, Tony. And if all of this makes you happy, you don't need me. You just need—"

"Hey, Tony, the contractor just—" Bruce's voice interrupted, but then went silent again. "Oh, uh, sorry. I didn't…"

Tony felt himself relax at the sight of his friend, coming to diffuse a situation unknowingly and managing to do so with all his awkward charm. He saw Pepper's shoulders relax a little as well.

"It's fine, Dr. Banner." She was still a little on edge though if she used his proper address. "I was just going."

"Just leaving," Tony muttered under his breath.

"Well, if you're sure…" Bruce started again and dared to enter, slowly of course, but he did so just the same. He came over and stood cautiously between them before noticing his gauntlet and asking, "Oh, hey, trying the, uh, the new power model?"

Tony knew that he shouldn't smile. He knew that he'd just hurt Pepper and Pepper had just hurt him, but Bruce was asking such a disarming question about his suit and he couldn't help it. So, he did. It was weak, but it was real.  


"Yeah, you're just in time actually," he answered and then looked at Pepper.

To his surprise she had a soft smile on her own face. Maybe Bruce just had that affect on people. Maybe.

* * * *

Bruce stood as stock still as he possibly could, arms spread out to his side. He felt ridiculous as the tailor checked the fit for what felt like the millionth time. He'd had to learn a little sewing during his time on the run for propriety sake, but he couldn't quite fathom why it took multiple fittings for one tuxedo. It wasn't like he'd bulked up or leaned down any in the past few weeks as far as he was aware. Besides, the tux felt as good as it was probably going to. He'd never felt very comfortable in these kinds of things.

There was a low whistle behind him and his mouth quirked upward on its own volition. He craned his neck as he stood on the platform to see Tony in his tuxedo; it was missing the jacket so he could see the soft yellow satin vest. He was standing there with a wolfish smirk on his face and the combination made Bruce's brain stutter just a little.

"See, I always had a feeling you'd look good in a tux," Tony said and Bruce turned his head away, ducking it a little.

"No, I'm pretty sure this is your thing. Or have you finally given up admiring yourself in mirrors since I left?" He asked teasingly.

Tony barked out a laugh. "No, no. Still a text book narcissist." Bruce looked over his shoulder again to see him shaking his head in amusement. "But I can still appreciate a tall…ish drink of water when it's not me."

He snorted. "You might want to get your eyes checked."

The tailor finally moved away and he flapped his arms a little to loosen them. He then turned around to face Tony.

"My vision happens to be 20/20, thank you very much. Or close enough. And you're the one who wears glasses so tell me again whose opinion of your looks we should trust?" Then Tony paused and made no effort to hide the way he looked him over. Bruce's throat went a little dry; somehow he always managed to forget this shameless aspect of Tony's personality. "But seriously. You look fantastic. Better than fantastic. Everyone's gonna want to get in line to jump the groom instead of kiss the bride."

Bruce felt the heat in his cheeks. Shameless things like that. Shameless words or actions that didn't mean a thing.

"You're hilarious, really," Bruce replied drily, nodding as he did. "Quit your day job. Become a comedian."

Tony shrugged and smiled, but Bruce thought he detected some kind of discomfort in the other man. It hadn't been an audible flinch or wince or even a tensing of the shoulders. There had simply been a sort of shadow that had fallen over him and then disappeared again so quickly that he wasn't sure if he'd even imagined it.

Then again, he thought he'd seen that shadow come and go on several occasions since Tony's arrival.

* * * *

"Oh my god, Tony?"

He barely registered his friend's voice.

"Tony, what..."

Bruce must have realized he was unable to respond. Always brilliant. He was so, so brilliant.

"JARVIS, what happened?"

**_Mr. Stark nodded off in the middle of a test of the new thrusters and collapsed rather violently._ **

Then Bruce was on his knees beside him, propping his head gently with those big, skillful hands of his. For the first time in days he actually wanted to close his eyes, relax.

"JARVIS, when was the last time Tony slept?"

**_My system indicates he is nearing the ninety-six hour mark._ **

"Ninety-si... Tony. Tony, no, you can't do this."

"Sorry." He finally managed to get his voice to work in tandem with his brain. Bruce deserved that much.

"No, no. I'm sorry. I should have noticed sooner. Tony, we're going to fix this okay? We're... We will. But you have to let me in."

Tony blinked. He wanted that.

A slow smile, that probably looked a little distorted since his facial muscles were worse for wear at the moment, spread across his face. He wanted that!

It was a strange and new thing. He wanted to let Bruce in. He could trust him. He **_wanted_ ** to trust him.

"Will you let me—?"

"Yes," he fired the word before he could think twice.

Bruce smiled. "I'm going to check your cuts and then I want you to try and get some sleep, okay? We can talk later. But try and sleep, please?"

"Yes."

* * * *

"You know what I could really go for right now?"

Bruce craned his neck from where he sat on the porch steps to see Tony standing on the other side of the screen door. He turned his head back and waited for the man to open said door and come out to join him.

"With you, I couldn't even begin to guess," Bruce answered teasingly when he heard the screen door close and felt Tony hovering behind him.

"Oh I think you could if you tried hard enough," Tony deflected as he sat down beside him.

Bruce turned his head slightly to study the engineer and felt his heart clench slightly as a wave of nostalgia hit him.

"Science," he said softly.

"Yeah," Tony replied, also softly. "Science. But…" Bruce knew what was coming next and there was no way to prepare himself for it. "Not just any science. I can do plain, regular, old, boring, all by my lonesome science whenever I want. But I miss doing science with you, big guy."

Bruce could only nod solemnly for a moment. "Me too," he finally admitted. "We were a pretty great team, huh? Who'd have thought?"

Tony snorted. "Not the others, that's for sure. I think they were afraid we'd blow up the tower or I'd have you Hulking out every five minutes." Tony nudged his shoulder with his own.

Bruce relished in the companionable feel of it. The reminder of how it used to be this easy threatened to tighten the back of his throat. He laughed slightly to clear it away.

"I'm so glad you didn't. I would have run back to Kolkata," he said jokingly.

Well, it wouldn't have been a joke at the time. He probably would have done that if he'd felt it wasn't safe. But Tony had somehow managed to make him feel safe even when he was at his wick's end and close to giving up. It had never made much sense.

"And I would have followed," Tony responded breezily. Bruce looked up at the night sky, trying to squash the feelings of fondness that always teetered on the edge of inappropriate attraction - the feelings he'd spent months burying as nothing more than a miscalculation of sorts. "Totally would have shacked up with you if I had to, Bruce," Tony added with a laugh, and it made it hard to squash those feelings.

"I don't think you realize how literal that prospect would have been," Bruce tried reaching for humor instead. "I lived in an actual shack, Tony."

"You…" Tony seemed slightly mortified. "I guess I should have known that in theory. But empathy has never exactly been my strong suit I guess."

Bruce rolled his eyes slightly. "You can do empathy when you want. You just don't have a lot of experience with… If I say reality will you totally hate me?" He asked with a smirk.

"Nope. I mean, even this is a little weird."

Bruce's smirk fell and he blinked. "What?"

"Sitting on a porch," Tony answered with a hitch of his shoulder, looking a little uneasy as he turned his gaze upward. "Never had that kind of thing, being the billionaire's kid and all. Sure, the family home had huge back terrace, that sort of thing. But it was Long Island. Definitely no Middle-America cliché charm like this."

"Virginia isn't Middle-America, Tony." Bruce decided not to prod at Tony's vulnerabilities too hard. "But, is it a good weird or do you think maybe the movies oversell it?" He asked instead.

Tony's head straightened and he looked over at him. For a moment it was like the stars had followed him down and settled in them – and Bruce was pretty sure that wasn't the thing you usually thought about your friends, but he couldn't help it. If any man could soak up the light of stars and contain them, it was definitely Tony Stark. His eyes were already bright, his smile already lit up a room, and his heart already shone like the North Star, anxious to guide anyone who knew how to chart him out.

"It's a good weird," Tony finally answered. "It's the kind of weird where you just don't want it to end. The irrational weird maybe. The kind where a grown man discovers the simple pleasures of sitting at on porch and—"

Tony stopped and looked away. However, Bruce hadn't missed the flicker of emotions that had danced across his face, dimming the starlight that had been in his eyes, before he had. So he nudged his shoulder gently, returning the earlier gesture.

"Believe it or not, Tony, there's no expiration date on this sort of thing."

Tony sighed. "You don't know how much I wish I could believe that."

For a brief moment, Bruce wondered if Tony's mind was somewhere else. He wondered if this wasn't about something that had nothing to do with star watching on a front porch. It didn't matter of course. It only mattered to Bruce that he wished Tony could believe whatever it was he wanted to believe.

* * * *

"That's the last time I let you talk me into anything like that," Bruce said somewhere between laughing and groaning as they fell onto the couch in the common lounge.

Tony did laugh. "Oh come on. Clint's face was priceless. He really thinks we—"

"No! No, please don't repeat it," Bruce said, now outright laughing as he held onto his side. "I can't handle a repeat," he practically wheezed, leaning over sideways.

"I can," Tony countered, face probably a little too impish than what was good for anyone, but he didn't care. The only thing better than Clint's reaction to their prank was this right here, the way Bruce laughed relentlessly. If he could do it over a million times, he would just to see…

Suddenly his eyes widened, blinking several times over at the thunderstruck feeling in his chest. As Bruce sat upright, his eyes followed him like a magnet; he couldn't look away. He'd always thought Bruce was attractive, sure. He'd have propositioned him ages ago under different circumstances, but this… This felt different. This felt like that night he'd seen Pepper, radiant and open and calling to him, and the first time he'd flown in his Iron Man suit, and maybe something even more exhilarating all rolled into one.

Bruce must have sensed the change that had come over him because when Tony blinked again and refocused he realized Bruce's eyes were locked on his own. He could see the calculating look he'd come to know well in the past five months, the look of a brilliant scientist working out a formula or equation. Only, it was tinged with something else. Tony had a pretty good feeling it was the same thing in his own eyes.

In the silence that surrounded them, suddenly the pull of gravity became too strong. Who was the sky and who was the Earth? Tony really didn't care because he knew it was leading to the same end, a balance somewhere in the middle if he didn't pull back while he still had the chance.

It wasn't that he wanted to pull back. Kissing Bruce was definitely high on his list of things he wouldn't mind doing in his life time, but… Losing Bruce if this was a horrible, horrible miscalculation on either of their count or losing Bruce if Tony were to go on being the mess of a man he always was – like Pepper had found out the hard way – or losing Bruce if… Pretty much losing Bruce in any way, shape, or form was practically at the bottom of the list of things he wanted to do in his life time. It was only just above losing his intelligence (genius was first priority in his title). So, speaking of genius, his brain was telling him to pull away before he could hurt Bruce. At the very least he needed to make sure he was certain this was the right thing to do before pursuing it for once; Bruce deserved that much. He couldn't just 'ready, fire, aim' with something this potentially life changing for better or for worse, in sickness and in… Yeah, he was panicking.

All of these thoughts whizzed through his currently very frenetic brain at mach speeds. Quickly enough that just as they were right there in optimal position, scale balancing back and forth until just about even, he settled on what he needed to do. Using all of the self-control everyone swore he didn't possess, he pulled away.

Bruce's eyes widened immediately as if dumbstruck, broken from the trance. "Oh," he said softly and for just a moment Tony could just about pull out his arc reactor and call it a day because it was confused and maybe slightly disappointed. But then Bruce seemed to return to his senses, his wonderfully guarded and practical senses, the ones that Tony was sure knew better than to fall prey to his boundless charisma – and yeah he was an egotistical asshole so honestly this wasn't a good idea unless they could be one hundred percent sure. "Um, that was… Sorry. Not sure what came over me. Weird right?"

"It happens," Tony forced himself to be nonchalant, but the words sounded all wrong. They tasted wrong on his lips... and tasting lips was a very bad line of thought right now.

"Right." Bruce's tone suddenly changed altogether, although Tony's mind had been wandering so he couldn't quite process it, and before he could even say anything else, Bruce was on his feet. "Think we've let Clint suffer long enough? Or…"

"Uh, yeah, go ahead I guess. I'm just…" Tony wasn't quite sure just what he wanted to say or do, but it didn't matter because Bruce was gone before he had a chance to figure it out.

* * * *

Bruce smiled broadly as Steve approached him in the airport. He was the first to arrive, prompt as usual. Thor would certainly arrive last and Clint and Natasha would be driving in following a last minute op. He suddenly hoped his wedding wouldn't be subject to an end of the world scenario. Even though he wasn't an Avenger himself anymore, that felt like just the thing that could and probably would go wrong.

"Hey, Steve." He held out his hand. Steve took it and they promptly pulled each other into a brotherly hug. "How's the, uh, the manhunt been going?" He asked as he pulled away.

The last time Steve and he had talked – since Steve was the kind of guy to keep in touch having lost so many people from his old life, or at least that was Bruce's guess – he had mentioned an unexpected ghost popping up on SHIELD's radar following the infamous take down of HYDRA. Said ghost, also known as the Winter Soldier apparently, was believed to be Steve's best friend and war comrade, Bucky Barnes.

"It's…" Steve hesitated, weighing his head side to side. "It's going. He's good at making himself disappear."

Bruce smiled ruefully at that, but didn't reply. This wasn't about him or his past. It was about Steve.

"Well, you'll find him. I just hope when you do…"

"Yeah," Steve said softly, nodding. "He's obviously not the same guy. But… I'm hopeful." He sighed and then looked around. "So Stark didn't join you to meet me? I feel a little hurt."

Bruce knitted his brow, not sure if it was a joke. "He, uh, he's taking care of the accommodations. We're gonna meet him at the hotel and then we can have lunch."

"Oh, well, that's nice of him. I guess that's kind of in the best man handbook? I mean, I wouldn't know. Never really went to many weddings and I've definitely never done the groomsman thing let alone best man. He's not ruining your wedding, I hope."

Bruce huffed out a laugh at that. "No, no. He's doing great. Actually, there's definitely no rule about the best man getting accommodations, but you know Tony. He… He wants to throw money at things just because he can."

He shook his head as they walked outside. He held the door for Steve, but didn't miss the way Steve looked at him as if considering something. The other man didn't bring it up until they'd walked through the parking lot in silence for a few moments.

"You know, I don't think he throws money around just because he can. I mean, not where you're concerned."

That was not at all the statement he had expected from the Captain. Bruce scuffed his feet slightly against the pavement, keeping himself from stopping dead in his tracks at the comment.

"Yeah, he's a great friend. That's true. I didn't mean it like—"

"I know," Steve said, cutting him off.

"This is me," Bruce said, pointing to the Prius, glad for a reason to end that discussion.

Steve put his luggage in the back and then slid into the passenger seat. Bruce momentarily mused about how all very strange this was before getting in as well.

"So, nervous about the wedding?" Steve asked once he'd pulled out of the parking spot.

He could tell Steve felt strange about this too, but was trying to make small talk that would hopefully ease the awkwardness of it. He almost wished Tony had come with him. That way he could have at least enjoyed their typical friendly mince of words and ideologies.

"A little, yeah. The last month has been a whirlwind of last minute preparation. Thankfully Betty has had her dream wedding planned since she was a teenager. Honestly," he glanced over at Steve with a small smile, "I think the groom was pretty inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. She would have had the wedding this way regardless."

Steve nodded. "But, hey, she picked you, right? So that makes you the lucky guy."

"Yeah, I guess it does."

Of course he was lucky. He'd almost not been the lucky guy. Hell, Betty had gone and gotten involved with someone else in the five years he first went on the run. Then, when she'd tried to make it work again, _he_ had let _her_ go. It was a mess that shouldn't have ever ended like some strange fairytale. Then again if _Beauty and the Beast_ could be a thing, why not?

"What does she think of Stark?" The random question pulled him from his thoughts.

"That is a loaded question," Bruce answered with a laugh. "No, they seem to get along pretty well. And she gets it. At first she wondered why I didn't want to ask my friend Rick to be my best man, but then I told her that Tony was the kind of friend you meet once in a life time and as much as I like Rick, it's not really the same. We haven't even been in touch for ages."

"Right, right," Steve replied. Bruce knew it was the canned answer. It was the 'I'm not really sure what you're talking about, but I'll believe you' answer. He didn't mind. "And, Tony… He's been good? He hasn't done anything, well… He's Tony so I guess you know what I mean."

"He hasn't tried to steal my fiancé if that's what you mean," Bruce responded, chuckling at the notion of Betty ever wanting someone like Tony. He looked over at Steve as they sat at a red light and his amusement squelched a little at the expression on the Captain's face. He didn't look like a man who had meant it quite that way. "What? Did you give Tony a speech or something before he came? Are you checking up to see if he's been following the rules?"

It was a joke. He was sure Steve was genuinely just concerned. But Tony had been amazing. Supportive. He was exactly the friend he'd missed. Well, almost.

"I actually haven't seen Stark in a few months, so, no. No speech."

Bruce wished he could say he didn't nearly let go of the wheel and cause an accident, but he definitely nearly let go of the wheel and probably would have caused an accident; he was close to the bike lane after all. So, really, that he didn't was a testament to his control ( _of course_ ) because nothing could have prepared him for that kind of bombshell.

"Wait… What? Where has he been?" Bruce glanced over at him a few times, as quickly as he could spare without taking his eyes off of the road. He licked his dry lips in contemplation of what Steve could mean.

"He didn't tell you?" Steve started with a question of his own, but then must have realized it was a stupid question and continued. "He hasn't been with us for a few months. He was splitting time for a little bit while we tried to finish tying up some loose ends with the Hydra take down. And there were a few missions where we needed him so he helped as a consultant again. But, no, he kind of just hung up the suit as far as working for the Avengers is concerned."

Bruce didn't respond. He couldn't respond to that while he was still driving. Steve seemed to understand and didn't say anything more. There was silence the rest of the way to the hotel and when Bruce pulled his car into a space, he had never been more relieved or more terrified to have reached his destination. He put it in park and cut the engine before shifting in his seat to look pointedly at Steve.

"Let me get this straight." He held up one of his hands. "Tony quit?"

"Yeah, for the most part. I mean, he still pays for the Initiative and lets us use the tower as the home base. And I think he still does the lone wolf Iron Man thing on the West Coast when it suits him. But, he made it pretty clear to Fury that he wants off the roster. He said something about retiring and going pro bono. I don't know."

Bruce's brow was creased and he knew he was in some form or other pouting as he listened to Steve's explanation. But it didn't make sense. He'd spent _months_ with Tony seeing first hand just how much he believed in the team and what they could accomplish. Sure, he could understand wanting to retire after a certain point. Fighting bad guys was exhausting and was the kind of job that probably had a shelf life, but already?

He also knew Tony was the kind of person to be fickle. He was the kind of person who could get bored easily. But this? This was something he couldn't have predicted. He had seen, felt even, Tony's unique brand of fickle and not knowing what he really wanted, but the Initiative, the team, had never seemed like that kind of deal.

In fact, if there had been one thing Tony had really been consistent about in his time knowing him it was his commitment to his ideologies regarding what their team should be about and what heroes in general should be about. Bruce had heard speeches in private hours that had convinced him that Tony was the kind of man who would fight anyone who dared go against his values where the Avengers were concerned.

"You okay, Bruce?" Steve asked and he blinked a few times. He wondered just how long he had zoned out, face pulled into a scowl.

"Uh… Yeah, I guess so. I just… Wow. I hadn't been expecting that kind of news. I can't understand why Tony would want to hang up his Avengers title after everything he's put into it, you know? Seems weird. And it's weird he didn't mention it."

Steve dropped his head forward slightly, eyes boring into him with all the incredulity the Captain could muster. "You're kidding, right?"

"No," and that was really all he could manage to say to a question like that.

"Look, I'm not a genius like either of you, but it's not exactly hard to put two and two together here." Steve twisted his head sideways and he fought the lurching sensation in his stomach as it began to dawn on him what his friend might mean by that. "Someone he thought would be there 'til the end of the line wasn't. Something like that makes it pretty darn easy to call it a day. Trust me on that one."

"I think there might be something wrong with your math, Cap. That's not exactly the impression I got."

That was a lie and the skepticism on Steve's face told him that the other man knew as much. He'd just said that Tony was a once in a lifetime kind of friend. He was the kind of friend you don't expect, but the kind you don't let go of either. So why wouldn't it make sense for Tony to be a little despondent without him? He himself had spent the first few months expecting to turn every corner and run into the genius. He'd kept expecting to hear him ranting about something Clint had done or arguing with JARVIS. It had been depressing.

But by no stretch of the imagination could he believe that Tony would call it a day only because of him. If anything maybe he had needed a friendly guiding hand and shoulder to lean on and Bruce had failed him by not being there. That he could easily imagine. Maybe his demons and lack of rest had returned and nobody else had noticed. That was easily imagined as well, and made his stomach fall.

"Hey, are you two out here necking or what?"

Bruce started and turned back around in his seat quickly to see Tony smiling at them outside of the driver side window - which he kept down most days.

"Nice to see you again too, Stark," Steve responded with humor in his tone.

"Yeah, missed you, Cap," Tony said in turn, but Bruce hadn't missed the way he winced.

So whatever the reason for his quitting the team, Tony clearly had no desire for him to know. He wouldn't push him to explain then. Still he couldn't fight the sadness that Tony had given up on the Initiative at all, let alone that he might have been even somewhat responsible. Why hadn't Tony just reached out to him if he'd needed a friend? Was what they'd had really that broken now? Was he fooling himself by thinking it wasn't?

Maybe that was why he'd taken so long to answer his calls.

* * * *

"JARVIS, what do you got for me?"

_**I am not finding any heat signatures in the building that match those of Dr. Banner, sir.** _

Tony's ears suddenly rang with a deafening silence and he felt like everything was in slow motion. As the other Avengers took out HYDRA agents all around him, he could only stand there stunned into a permanent position, unmovable, the world moving forward without him. He had asked Bruce to trust him, and he had failed. 

Tony of course had never counted on this being a possibility. Sure, there was a worry about General Ross coming after the Hulk following a threat that had been made, but Director Fury had been working to get Bruce a pardon straight from the top, something that would make it career suicide if Ross tried anything again. But that was that and this was… not that at all.

_**HYDRA**_ had taken Bruce. No one had expected it. If it had been Steve or Natasha or him even, they would have understood the reasoning. In fact, they had been so thrown off that they'd wasted nearly two weeks on a wild goose chase, first assuming that it had been Ross (maybe that was the entire point, he'd considered) and second trying to take down HYDRA and find out where they'd taken their friend.

"Guys, JARVIS isn't finding a heat signature match," he said over the com link.

"How does that make sense?" Natasha was the first to respond, being nearby, and he turned to see her take out another HYDRA agent, crushing his head with her thighs before flipping as he fell to land gracefully on her feet. She strode over to him then, brow creased and wearing a slight frown. "This is the last known base and there haven't been any signs of him at any of the others."

"So there's an unknown base somewhere." He tried not to snap, he really did, but the minutes not having found Bruce were beginning to add up like a landslide that was slowly seeking to bury him alive. "Which means this has been another wild goose chase and we're no closer to finding Bruce. Who knows what they've done to him by now!"

A HYDRA agent attempted to assault him at that precise moment and really, it was the absolute worst choice that agent could have made. Tony grabbed him hard by the neck and pressed him against the nearest wall. The agent's glasses fell off and for a moment the coldhearted murderer, or coldhearted murderer in training, was a human being with white in his young eyes. The voice in his head that told him Bruce would be disappointed in him was the only thing keeping him from hurting the agent further.

"Tell me where you've got him," Tony growled instead. "Where the hell is he?!?"

"He won't answer you, Stark," Natasha said evenly. "He's wired. If he tells you and we let him go, he's as good as dead when he runs into another agent."

"J, fry his transceiver," Tony instructed. "Now I'm not going to ask again. Is he here?" The agent struggled for a moment, still defiant, but then slowly nodded.

_Sir, satellite images from the past 24 hours have processed. Dr. Banner has recently been held several levels underground. I believe they may have placed him in a cryo-chamber._

Tony's heart caught in his throat and he started to loosen his grip on the HYDRA agent only for the agent to begin to struggle more wildly to use it as his opportunity. That wouldn't do so Tony strengthened his grasp.

"You're going to take us to him," he all but snarled though his faceplate hid it from view.

Suddenly there was the sound of a cocked gun and Natasha was saying, "You heard him."

He was immediately grateful that she was the one who had elected to come and speak with him and not Steve. He would have settled for Clint as well, Thor too probably, but that was an inconsequential train of thought at the moment.

He set down the agent gruffly and he tentatively complied. Tony got the strong impression that he must be a green agent or else he would have struggled harder. He considered it a stroke of luck in their favor.

"JARVIS, can you access their system and begin the wake cycle for all cryo-chambers in the building?"

_**I believe so, sir.** _

Tony and Natasha followed the agent through the winding halls, taking out other agents that attempted to blockade them along the way until they came to the guarded room. Natasha immediately worked on taking out the guards as Tony had JARVIS pick the lock, which was way easier than getting a HYDRA agent with security access to comply.

"Go on," Natasha said, nodding toward the door as it slid open. "I've got this. And him," she nodded to their HYDRA hostage.

Tony didn't need any further go-ahead – he really hadn't needed _**any**_ go-ahead, but that didn't matter right now – and he hurried into the room. He looked around for the tell-tale signs of foul play and experimentation. There was all the lab equipment one could expect when the prisoner was known to have been a lab rat in the past, complete with table and straps; as JARVIS had suspected Bruce was not strapped to said table. Tony looked around further, until—

"Son of a—" He started, but bit down on the rest as he rushed to the cryo-chamber. Bruce was indeed suspended inside. "JARVIS, where are we at with the wake cycle?"

_**Three minutes remaining, sir, but I am afraid there may have been a virus embedded in the command protocol to begin the wake cycle. I am running diagnostics now.** _

Tony furrowed his brow at that, but most of his thoughts were on Bruce so he would let JARVIS handle it. It was possibly the longest three minutes of his life. He wanted to tear open the chamber and be done with it. He needed to know Bruce was safe. 

Finally it opened and Bruce gasped awake almost immediately. Tony breathed a sigh of relief. He also noticed that whatever they had done to him when experimenting, there was little evidence of it. He knew what General Ross had done in the past, but there didn't look to be any sign of mutilation. It was a relief and yet puzzling.  


"Tony?" Bruce blinked at him in confusion and stumbled forward a little, like having no sea legs.

Tony caught him and ignored the urge to hold him close and never let go. He now knew what game they had been playing all these months, or at least the one he had been playing, and he was only angry he had pushed away, confused and uncertain about the depth of his feelings, when he'd almost had the chance to hold Bruce close to him before. If he had kissed him... No, there was no time to think about that now. 

"I'm here. I've got you. We're going to—"

"No, leave! Go. Tell the team to get out of here. You've got to get out of here!" Bruce became frantic, scrambling away only for his wobbly muscles to give out and send him violently to the slab floor.

"Bruce, you're talking nonsense." Tony bent forward instantly, trying to help. "I'm not leaving you. Why would I—"

"Trap," Bruce spat the word, still sounding panicked and he looked up at Tony with eyes wide with dread.

"Trap." That's what JARVIS was referring to. He stood up in frustration. "Of course. Damn it, why didn't we see that coming? Guys, I've got Banner, but you need to get out now. It's a trap. I think maybe the cryo was rigged to trigger something upon opening." He then turned and looked back at Bruce questioningly. "Are they… Are they going to unleash the Hulk on us or…?"

"I don't know. No, no I don't… I think…" Numerous pained emotions passed across Bruce's face. "I wasn't fully under at first and they were talking about a trap and... and… about removing the Hulk?"

"Removing the…" Tony's eyes widened in realization. Bruce had a specific heat signature, heightened by the Hulk and yet that heat signature hadn't been located. They had definitely done _**something**_. But what? "You can't change?"

"No, I've been trying," he shook his head, "but that doesn't matter. Tony, get out. Now!"

"And leave you here unable to change? Like hell I will. Makes sense though. They took out our heaviest hitter and then lured us here. Take us all out at once." He was running through the scenario in his mind, pacing as he did.

"Tony!"

"I said I'm not—"

And then there was an explosion from somewhere in the base, very likely higher up given the impact where they were, and he was thrown back violently against the cryo-chamber and Bruce knocked unconscious on the ground, with no sign of the Hulk making an appearance. When Tony got his bearings again and contacted the team to ensure they'd gotten out – they had – he hurried over to check Bruce's vitals.

_**He is still alive, sir. But he seems to be suffering from a concussion and potentially some minor internal bleeding.** _

Tony felt his heart clench. "JARVIS, find me a way out. They rigged the upper levels to blow, so there's probably a backdoor somewhere down here. Find me a tunnel. Find me anything."

_**Yes, sir.** _

He looked at Bruce. Unconscious Bruce, not even minimally green Bruce... his... almost his Bruce... almost. "What did they do to you?"

* * * *

Bruce couldn't help but smile at the sight of his team gathered around one of the tables in the hotel ballroom. It wasn't really a typical rehearsal dinner, but it was a nice little party just the same and it was good to have all of the Avengers together again.

He was sure some of Betty's family and friends were probably overwhelmed by that though. It was probably shock enough that Betty would still want to marry the man who had once been the Hulk; he was continually grateful that Betty had all but filed a restraining order against her father to keep him from interfering.

He and Betty sat down at the table, as they were moving around the room to mingle with the various guests. They made the usual polite chit chat before familiarity began to take over.

"You know, I never thought I'd say this, but the tower is boring as hell without you, doc," Clint said first.

"Right," he said with a chuckle. "Because I was such a ball of fun when I was there?"

"No," Clint answered. "I mean, you had moments don't get me wrong. But mostly you were like a… Well, really nice glue. You were patient with Steve and Thor. You were always there for me and Tasha. And you kept Stark from—"

"Kept Stark from what?" Tony asked with a raised eyebrow, cutting the archer off.

"Do you really want him to answer that question?" Natasha asked with her own arched brow and Bruce bit down on a laugh.

"I'm just saying, you did a lot for the team even though you didn't think so," Clint finished.

Bruce considered it for a moment. He wanted to protest. He wanted to say they wouldn't have even needed him around if not for the Hulk. He'd only been the house for their heavy hitter. It was a little hard to fathom he was somehow irreplaceable. He was sure if they could have had the choice of someone more pleasant as the man who turned into the Hulk, they would have taken it. It had often felt like only Tony had appreciated what he could offer outside of the Hulk. But he knew that was unfair for him to assume and maybe only in his mind; he could never tell what was true and what was a result of his standoffish personality. They had gone to rescue him once after all... Or maybe they were rescuing the Hulk?

"Clint is not wrong," Thor said before Bruce could find words to respond. "I know you doubt yourself. You doubt what you have to offer as a friend or that anyone could enjoy your company, but I for one always valued your friendship and company alike. You were patient as Clint said, but also kind and not without humor."

"You _were_ the funny one," Natasha said with no subtle glance at Tony to make her double-meaning known.

"I'm going to allow that," Tony said, taking a sip of his champagne, "but only because Bruce _is_ hilarious and because he hasn't yet done a wicked witch of the west impression at the sheer amount of praise you guys have been giving him."

Bruce's mouth fell open as he scoffed. Then to his surprise Betty laughed beside him.

"Oh my god, that's exactly how it is," she said, looking at Tony on his other side.

"I'm not that bad. _Honestly_. Just because you're both extroverts and don't understand."

"I'm melting, I'm melting! Stop saying how amazing I am! What a world!" Tony ignored him and hammed it up anyway; in spite of himself Bruce laughed too.

"I understand these references now," Thor chimed and they all laughed harder.

Bruce shook his head at Tony in amusement. It was one thing when it was just the two of them and Tony was making him laugh, but it was always another thing altogether when he got the whole team to react like this. His natural exuberance was always at its best when he was strutting with the team rather than to please the undeserving masses who only wanted a photo and a scandal.

They locked eyes for a moment while the team's laughter rose and fell around them. The corners of Tony's eyes were crinkled and he looked the happiest he'd been in the two weeks he'd been there. Bruce wanted to preserve the moment, never give it back; this was how he should always look. It was, well, beautiful. Why had Tony left if being with the team still made him this happy?

As if hearing the unspoken question, Tony glanced away towards the rest of the team. Bruce followed his gaze, but he felt Betty looking at him. He turned to see her laughter had subsided. She was still smiling, but she seemed contemplative. He wondered: did it mean he wasn't a very good fiancé if he didn't have the slightest clue how to read her in moments like this?

* * * *

Tony hovered in the back of the lab, watching Bruce skittering around at a frantic pace. He knew he should help him, but his mind was too much like a shaken up jigsaw puzzle at the moment.

On the one hand, he was just glad to have Bruce safe and at home again. On the other, he hadn't worked up the nerve to say what had been on his mind since that day in the HYDRA lab when he realized what he'd wanted all along.

He was falling in love with the man. Maybe he was already in love with him. Bruce had come out of nowhere and settled into his shredded heart like nobody else had ever done. He wanted more than friendship and he only wished he'd figured it out sooner.

Now he was afraid Bruce would never forgive him for pushing him away before. He'd done the same thing to Pepper once and she hadn't been happy about it so why wouldn't it be the same? Why was he such a coward? At least he'd had the nerve to ask Pepper about that night. He'd been able to tap into his ego and smarmy charm. With Bruce just the thought of his responding like Pepper had made him feel dangerously, uncomfortably vulnerable. If he did, Tony was sure he'd drown himself in alcohol or do something else equally stupid.

So he was willing to wait… well, play coward, a little longer. He could justify it with the new development. Bruce had a lot on his plate right now with whatever HYDRA had done to him without Tony throwing up feelings to complicate things.

"I just don't understand," Bruce broke through his thoughts and his eyes focused to see the physicist had stopped in front of one of the monitors finally and was running a hand through his hair. "I… I just don't understand, Tony."

Tony smiled. Bruce must have still noticed him come in despite being so wrapped up in his work. He wandered over to be nearer to him finally.

"Are you sure?" It was a foolish question. Bruce seemed pretty sure.

Bruce turned and looked at him, eyes wide with wonder and hope and panic and confusion. It was mesmerizing.

"He's not there, Tony. I know he's not," he said firmly. "I don't know what they did, but everything is reading normal. My metabolism is down. My blood looks fairly normal, though there's some residue. And… I can get angry. I tried. I went into the training room, had JARVIS lock it down and tapped into all the anger I could muster. I even… I even gave myself a flesh wound." He hiked up a pant leg and Tony's eyes immediately darted down to it with a glower. Suddenly, a host of new fears were added to the shaken up puzzle in his mind. "He never showed up. I didn't even turn slightly green. He's not there!"

"Okay, I believe you," Tony replied, but it was one hell of a loop that had his own head spinning. "But how? How could HYDRA figure it out when you've spent years looking for something to put a damper on the…" He let his sentence trail. Bruce probably wouldn't appreciate his being a little sad about the loss.

"I know," Bruce barreled ahead as if he didn't register the gaff. "If only we could access any HYDRA files outlining the experiments. If only I could remember. I'm starting to think it was magic."

Tony just hitched a shoulder. At this point, he wouldn't even be surprised anymore. HYDRA had essentially begun on that premise after all, what with the cube.

"You're going to have to tell Fury," he said with a small sigh.

Bruce nodded. "I was going to. After the next mission, whenever that is."

Tony blanched. "What are you talking about?"

Bruce shrugged. "Well, I just thought maybe I need to be extra sure. Put myself in relative danger and then…"

"Hell no." Tony felt himself become livid. "No, you're not doing that. I won't let you. Steve won't let you. Nobody on the damn team is going to let you do that, Bruce. If you get hurt and you're right… No. That's not a chance we're going to take."

Bruce frowned. "Isn't that my choice?"

Tony set his jaw. Bruce could hate him if he wanted to, but he wasn't going to watch the man who might very well be the love of his life take such a foolish risk. "No," he said firmly.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. No. It's not your choice. You're part of a team, Bruce. We go out there needing a Hulk only to have something happen to you on top of not getting a Hulk, it could get bad fast. Not to mention, your team's job is to look out for you and overrule stupid decisions. Which this would be."

" _ **Tony.**_ "

"Don't give me that right now, Bruce," Tony snapped. He didn't care. He had to get his point across. "I'm not letting my best friend go out there and get himself killed just to see if he can still suit up. If the fucking read outs say the Hulk is gone, then he's gone. End of story. Tell Fury now."

Bruce flinched back and there wasn't even the speck of green in his eyes that an explosive fight like this between them would have caused before. The read outs were most likely right so he had all the more reason to stand his ground on this. Bruce opened his mouth to respond, but Tony decided not to give him that chance. 

He tried a different approach. "What would you do if it were me? What if I went on the next mission without my suit and without a back up reactor? Hmm?"

Bruce's face flashed with mortification before it fell. "You're right." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, you're right. It's stupid. I just want to be sure. You have to understand that. If I'm cured, that means I can have my life back. Maybe we can finally get Ross to stop hunting me. No more of this… this nightmare." He turned his back and looked at the monitor.

Tony was pretty sure Bruce hadn't meant that the way it came out, but it stabbed him in the chest like one of Natasha's widow bites just the same. If not for that nightmare, Tony would never have known what he was missing in his life. He felt cold and selfish for suddenly wishing Bruce didn't have to wake up.

* * * *

Nobody in Tony's spacious hotel suite had been surprised when strippers arrived for Bruce's bachelor party. The surprise had come when they realized Tony had ordered an assortment of both female and male strippers. But, really, he should have known. This was Tony. This was exactly the kind of deviant humor that Tony was good at.

"Just catering to all known or unknown preferences," Tony had quipped.

He hadn’t been mad then. He wasn't particularly mad now. He was just a little confused. He was confused as to why Tony had gone the stereotypical route for planning the night, even if with his own flair, and he was confused as to why he was allowing one of the men to give him a lap dance when he was fairly certain he wasn't particularly interested in lap dances from any of the strippers, male or female.

All the same he felt his heart quicken and the blood begin to rush south instinctively, but then he looked over at Tony. It was like his other instinct was to find his friend amidst this strange circumstance. Tony was a few spaces away and seemed to be casually enjoying his own lap dance from one of the men. Bruce wanted to look away, but he couldn't.

The stripper trying to work Bruce up was suddenly forgotten and all of his attention was instead on Tony in a way that he would maybe be able to explain if he wasn't otherwise preoccupied with the billionaire's face as Tony allowed himself to accept the attention. But then Tony's face fell a little, perhaps realizing he was being watched, and he turned so that their eyes met.

Bruce felt his brain short circuit with overwhelming realization of what he'd been doing. He hadn't just been watching his friend curiously. He had been watching him so wantonly that there could be no denying it. If he was going to have this - this kind of reaction _to_ a man... this kind of attention _from_ a man - then he wanted that man to be Tony.

Unsure of what else to do, Bruce gently pushed the stripper away from him, offered a hopefully placating smile to him or anyone else confused, and then hurried to the solace of one of the other rooms.

He had to get his mind straight. He had to get over this ridiculous longing for something that never was and never would be.

Tony wasn't his. Tony was never his. Tony had closed himself off, pushed him away. Tony had let him go. _He_ had chosen to go. _He_ had _wanted_ to go. This was how it was supposed to be.

"Tony is only your friend, damn it." He paced with little direction. "You love Betty. You've always loved Betty. That's not what you had with Tony. You didn't love him. He didn't love you. You were just…" He groaned. "Just _what?_ " He couldn’t even answer his own question.

He wasn't surprised by the gentle knock on the door. He was even less surprised when Tony let himself in and shut the door behind him.

"Tell me to leave if you want," Tony offered with a hitch of his shoulder. "Just wanted to make sure I didn't piss you off or something with the whole stripper thing."

He sighed almost inaudibly. "It's okay. I enjoy being pissed off. It's an overwhelming relief actually."

"Mmhmm," Tony hummed and nodded. "But you're admitting you're pissed off. So, uh, sorry. I guess. You okay? I can make them leave. Or was it just the… Was it just the male stripper part? That was maybe—"

"Tony, just stop. Right now, please. I left for my own reasons. It's not a big deal and I'm not angry at you."

"Okay, but my best friend runs out of a room full of strippers, I think I have the right to be a little bit concerned. So, seriously, are you okay?" His eyes were brown and soft and very much evident of the concern he'd admitted.

_Stop it! Stop looking at me like that. You can't just walk in here and—and—_

"I'm okay, honest. It's just, no, I don't want…" He groaned. Why was this so difficult? Why did Tony make things difficult? "I don't want _that_ … Damn it!" He was angry with himself, not Tony. " _With them!_ I don't want that with _them_." He hung his head, looking very pointedly at his feet.

"Because of Betty?" Tony asked simply, sounding unfazed by his bizarre outburst.

He just shrugged. He didn't have an answer for that. Not one that made sense anymore. Not one he could just blurt out.

"Sorry. I should have asked. Or, well, no. I should have known you wouldn't—Jeez, I'm a lousy friend."

Bruce looked up again and saw Tony scrubbing his face. He looked just as uncomfortable as Bruce felt.

"I'm not some blushing virgin, Tony," he placated. "I knew there would likely be strippers. I mean, it's normal. This should all be normal, but…" Even normal again, he would never be normal it seemed. "I just… I didn't realize I don't want that." He sighed. "With them."

Tony didn't understand what he meant. _He_ didn't even understand what he meant. But spending two weeks around Tony had been a maddening slow burn of chemistry all over again.

And now it was spiraling out of control.

Tony was just a friend. Friend. _Friend._ _Friend!_ Why couldn't he even have a friend without screwing it up? Why did he have to go and screw up _everything_? Even without the Other Guy he was just a fundamental screw up who—

"Hey." Tony was suddenly, but gently, moving into his personal space and breaking him from those thoughts. Or adding to them, he wasn't sure. "You're doing the broken face thing. Whatever it is you're worrying about, don't."

"When has that ever been easy for me?" It had been almost easy once. For a brief moment he hadn't been worried.

"I get that, but it's your night. It's your night to be happy and do whatever the hell you want with no regrets. Which..." He knew a Tony ramble was coming and a thin smile ghosted over his lips as he waited to hear what he had to say. "It's kind of a weird concept when you think about it too hard. Like you're stoked to get married, right? But then you basically give a last middle finger to the whole concept of marriage? Weird. Not to mention—"

"Kiss me."

He closed his eyes, wincing against the words as they left his mouth, but he didn't want to take them back.

"Yeah, okay." Bruce opened his eyes wide again. "...wait, what?" Tony's brain caught up apparently. "Uh, you... You might actually regret… that."

"Maybe." No. No, _probably_. He still had a chance to… "But that's what I want. My crazy last thing."

He shrugged. It looked more nonchalant than he felt.

Tony furrowed his brow. "The last crazy thing you want to do is... kiss... _me_?"

"Yes. You. My best friend. The famous Tony Stark. I want to kiss my best friend. Is that… okay? With you?"

He licked his lips nervously and held his breath. Tony might not be attracted to him, but he just wanted one kiss. The kiss they'd almost had. Could Tony at least give him that much? Should he even be asking for that much? There was a time when he thought Tony might do so gladly, but at least as his reckless friend…

His brain stuttered as Tony granted his favor.

He should have known Tony's lips would be perfect. They were pliant and skillful from years of practice. The feel of his trademark van dyke was rough in contrast, and scratched against his own stubble, but it was all the more strangely intoxicating for it. Tony's engineer's hands were splayed around the base of his neck. It wasn't a gentle kiss, but it wasn't demanding either. Tony wasn't going to give him something to regret, he knew that much.

Then Tony pulled away for just a moment to look at him. He was asking silently if Bruce still wanted this crazy last thing. If that kiss was enough? Or did he want a little _more_ of this crazy last thing? Because if there was anything about Tony that Bruce knew well, it was that he understood crazy and he was nothing if not willing to supply his share of it regardless of his own feelings.

The way Bruce's thoughts screamed _more, yes, please, a little more_ must have been clear in his eyes because then Tony's lips were on his again. It was less gentle this time and Bruce wondered briefly if the need he tasted was only his own, but then his thoughts scattered as one of Tony's hands found his hair. He melted into that touch and let Tony's tongue take the lead. It was perfect. Being with Tony like this felt perfect. He'd almost forgotten what balance felt like. He hadn't even realized he'd _ever_ known.

"Hey, so the coast is clear. We shooed the strippers out so we thought we'd do stag—"

They broke apart, panting, hands still clutching one another in various places – hair, neck, hip, back – and looked to see Clint standing in the doorway.

"Uh, gifts. But, hey, we can do that later." Then he was gone again, closing the door behind him and mumbling about how they could have kept the strippers around longer.

Bruce turned to meet Tony's gaze at the same time and held it for a moment. Then the billionaire bit his lip, let him go, and backed away.

"We should probably get back to the party," Tony said first, sounding uncertain.

"Yeah," Bruce conceded. He was right after all. "I'll be there in a minute." Tony nodded, maybe understanding maybe not, and left.

As soon as he was gone, Bruce sighed and ran a hand through his hair before transferring that hand to scrub at his face as well. Yeah, that had been crazy. He was stupid. This was complicated. He was a screw up. He shouldn't have kissed Tony. He knew he shouldn't have. And the worst part was that he didn't regret it.

He only regretted that they'd had to stop.

* * * *

The last three weeks had been a veritable nightmare. Bruce had woken up only for Tony to fall asleep. Now he was the one watching as his world slowly crumbled and all the things he'd started hoping for slipped through his grasp. 

After further, and safe, tests Director Fury was convinced that Bruce was indeed one hundred percent Hulk-free. Tony still missed the green behemoth, but he would miss Bruce more. 

He would miss Bruce more when he left as he was soon to do. 

Fury had worked hard to get him exonerated, General Ross was ordered to stand down immediately – they'd had to prove to him that Bruce's blood was now normal and that seemed to do the trick and sent him grumbling away – and then Fury had immediately pulled Bruce from the Avengers Initiative. Oh, sure, he was allowed to stay on as a SHIELD scientist, but Tony wanted him for Stark Industries… and himself if he were wording it honestly.

Then _**she**_ had shown up. 

Dr. Betty Ross. Tried and true and ready to pick up where they left off and clamoring about how she always knew Bruce would find a way. To be fair, Tony couldn't blame her.  


So, of course, like a punch to the gut Bruce had decided to give it another shot with his first love, true love most likely, and now Tony was left with feelings and words unsaid. He would have to be the better man and let Bruce go if that was his choice. Pepper would be so proud of him if she knew how mature he was being, not demanding to get what he wanted for once. Or maybe she'd slap him upside the head for blowing through all of his chances like the coward he was. Maybe it was still for the best that Bruce didn't allow himself to get involved with someone like him.  


"I'm offended." Of course Bruce would find him and break through his thoughts, make this harder on him. "You ducked out on my farewell party?"

Bruce came to stand beside him. Now he couldn't pretend this wasn't happening. 

"Maybe I don't like the idea of a farewell party," he answered honestly even if he knew it was too little too late.

Bruce sighed. "Maybe I don't either." 

There was silence between them for a long moment. Silence between them had often been strangely pleasant. This time it wasn't. Tony felt like he might choke on it. So he did what he did best and filled the silence with empty words, not empty of feeling but empty compared to what he wanted to say.

"Remember the day you decided to come visit Candy-land?" 

"Of course." He didn't dare turn to see it, but Tony could picture the fond smile on his face based on the tone of his voice. "It definitely exceeded my expectations."

"That's good. Good for the ego. You might be surprised, but I was a little worried there at the beginning that it wouldn't." Tony laughed, trying to keep his tone light. But the bitterness crept in against his best efforts. "Guess the magic probably wore off though, right? Invited too many people to crash the party. Should have just—" He stopped and snorted derisively. 

"It's not that, Tony." Bruce sounded sad and Tony didn't want that. Making him feel guilty was not what he had resolved to do. 

"I get it. You haven't had a chance to live your own life for years. You deserve this. I get it, Bruce. Really, I do." He paused, considering it. He should probably shut up, but he barreled on, a mess of a man. "You know, maybe you’ve got the right idea. Pepper used to ask me why I didn't just have the rest of the shrapnel removed. Maybe I should. Get the reactor removed and the hole covered up while I'm at it."

"Tony, _**please**_."

At that Tony turned to face Bruce. He couldn't not at the pleading tone. They were so close in the low lit balcony. They were close enough that if Tony were to give into his selfish instincts he could at least kiss Bruce once before letting him go. But that would just ruin everything completely. And even if it hurt being just friends, he was determined that he could get over this. They just needed distance. He just needed to let Bruce go be happy.  


"Bruce, I…" He ducked his head, fought against the words he wanted to say. 

"Yeah?" Bruce sounded anxious for what he might say next.

"I knew right away we'd be the best of friends," he said, raising his head again. "So don't even think about this being a permanent goodbye, big guy. I will tattoo keep in touch with my phone number and dot the I with a heart and everything if you even—"

He was cut short by the unexpected hug. He was selfish enough to move his arms around Bruce tightly. He was almost selfish enough not to let go.

"Not even a possibility, Tony," Bruce mumbled and then moved several feet away as he pulled back from the embrace. "I think Betty's ready to head out." Bruce said it so casually that it hurt a little after how warm and right their bodies had felt pressed together. 

"Alright. Well, you know, have fun, you crazy kid. Or something. I don't know." He reached for wit and could see the thin smile Bruce responded with.

He waved a hand and then turned back to look out onto the city. 

"Tony…" He spun around so quickly that for a moment they both froze like deer in headlights. "I, uh…" Bruce hesitated, but then finally managed to say, "Sleep, okay?"

And because it was still there in his brain like a basic instinct he said, "Yes."

* * * *

Bruce fumbled with his black and white chevron patterned bow tie for what felt like the millionth time that morning. His fingers were trembling and he just couldn't make them work. It was out of character. He had steady hands. He could work with beakers and lab equipment with deft ease. But he couldn't tie a damn bow tie.

He glanced up a little in the mirror and saw Tony standing in the doorway, his lips drawn tight and lopsided. He sighed and let his hands fall for a moment. He licked his dry lips and was about to turn to face his best man when Tony was suddenly behind him, hands snaking around to fix his bow tie.

He tensed.

It would be so easy to… No. Not now. Not ever again. That was the night before. That was nothing. That was crazy.

"I get the whole pre-wedding jitters thing in theory, but you really don't have anything to worry about, Bruce."

Bruce closed his eyes. Sometimes Tony's voice was like silk. It was no surprise to him how that beautiful voice had seduced so many people. It had maybe seduced him from the moment he'd said, "It's a stabilizing agent."

"You don't know that," he finally answered because that was the truth.

Tony knew a lot of things, but there was no way of knowing his marriage would work. There was no way of knowing if he and Betty weren't making a huge mistake. There was no way of knowing if _Betty_ was making a mistake.

Sure, he wasn't the Hulk anymore. But he was still a crapshoot of fear and anger and demons he'd never really be able to escape. What if the ego came back? What if he couldn't be trusted in other ways? What if…

"What if I end up just like him?"

Yeah, that was it. That was always one of his biggest fears. It had seemed like it had come true when he'd become the Hulk, a monster who could only smash. What if it happened again, but this time there was no beast to blame it on? What if _he_ still really _was_ the monster?

"Look at me." Tony turned him around gently by his shoulders so he could fix him with that same steady gaze he'd fixed him with in a floating lab a lifetime ago. " _You_ are _never_ going to be that bastard."

"Tony," he tried to protest, but the protest died on his lips when Tony moved one of his hands to squeeze gently at the crook of his neck.

"I won't stand here and tell you that you'll never be your own brand of bastard sometimes, but, hey, that's just because you're human. It doesn't mean you'll ever be him. Got it?" He nodded weakly, swallowing hard. "And while we're at it, you are going to be a damn good husband. So all that other noise in there," he tapped his forehead, still staring pointedly at him, "it can just fuck off. Because Betty is the luckiest woman in the world. And you're finally going to have all of the stuff you've always deserved, Bruce."

"Don't think we'll take our chances with kids though," Bruce replied, holding onto his last thread of pessimism because in spite of his getting married in an hour, he just didn't feel abundantly happy or like he deserved to feel that way. "There's probably still residual damage and—"

"There's this little thing called adoption. I will seriously hook you up with every reference or lawyer you need. The point is you'll be fine." Then, Tony fixed him with one of his bright smiles and Bruce did start to feel happy. Tony believed in him. Tony believed this could work out for him. "And, hey, if it doesn't work out, I will gladly be the Oscar to your Felix, got it?"

He laughed softly at that. Okay, Tony marginally believed it could work out. That was still a flying recommendation. He was probably over thinking this, as usual. Tony could clearly see it for what it was and should be and always had.

"Don't worry." Bruce offered him a thin smile. "I wouldn't be as bad as Felix."

"And I wouldn't be as bad as Oscar."

* * * *

_"Wow. You weren't kidding," Bruce looked around in awe at the first R &D floor of ten. _

_"Candy-land, right?" Tony's expression was like a kid on Christmas even if he wasn't the one opening the package._

_Bruce shook his head. "Yeah. I wouldn't even know where to begin."_

_"Oh, I seriously doubt that, Dr. Banner. I've seen you in a lab." There was a beat. "You've got magic hands. I think you could figure it out."_

_Bruce blinked and looked torn between surprise and amusement. "Was that… Are you coming on to me?"_

_Tony's eyes widened and he scratched the back of his neck. "Well, I wasn't actually, but hey if you're interested…"_

_"I'm sure your stable-ish girlfriend would love that," Bruce replied drily._

_"Yeah, probably not. Good point. No, you see, I kind of have this thing where I kind of can't help myself…"_

_Bruce snorted. "Mmhmm, I kind of got that impression already."_

_"Will that be a problem? I don't wanna make you uncomfortable or anything."_

_"Don't worry." Bruce smirked. "I can hold my own just fine."_

_Now it was Tony's turn to blink. "Ah… Did you? You just… Oh, well, you asked for it now, Dr. Banner. You've started a dangerous game." He wagged a finger in warning._

_Bruce's smirk remained. "Good. I plan on scoring big." They both winced. "Okay, yeah, that was bad, but you have to admit you walked into that one, Stark. Couldn't resist."_

Bruce smiled at the unexpected memory as he thought about all the ways his life had changed, how this was a day he never thought he'd live to see. The sun was bright and the sky was blue, there were flowers all around. But best of all Betty was standing on one side and he had friends on his other. Friends like Tony who had seen him through to this moment.

"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today…"

_"You're okay, big guy. There's nothing—"_

_"No, Tony!" Bruce growled. "No, I've never been okay. Don't you get it? **I'm** the monster! I was born a monster and then the radiation it… It just gave it physical id. I'm never going to be okay." _

_"That's bullshit," Tony said defiantly and Bruce reeled back slightly. "I want to know who the hell put that idea into your head. Ross? Yourself? Who?"_

_"I-I…"_

_"Seriously, Bruce, that is the biggest pile of crap I have ever heard. I haven't seen a damn thing about you that makes me think that's true. And that includes the Other Guy. By the way, I've read your file. I know about the fucking bomb and the anger issues. So I'm still waiting on an answer because I don't believe it and I want to know why you do."_

_"My… My dad," Bruce whispered brokenly. "He hated me. Isn't that in the file?" He asked bitterly, tears forming in his eyes._

_Tony's face softened. "Only the part about what that maniac did to you," Tony's voice lowered and he moved to place hands on Bruce's slumped shoulders._

_"He said I was a monster. Born that way."_

_"I'm sorry. And not in the sympathetic way. In the, I can sort of empathize way, but at the same time it'll never be as bad as that kind of way."_

_"I've read your file too," Bruce said weakly. "Doesn't take a lot of reading between the lines to realize you were a miserable kid whose parents had the money to be there, but weren't."_

_"Very astute of you, Dr. Banner." Tony nodded. "Now it's my turn. Your dad was wrong. I realize that having the Hulk now might make it seem like he wasn't and I get me telling you this probably won't change a damn thing if you don't believe me, but there it is. I definitely don't believe what your dad said for a minute." Tony pulled him into a hug. "Because if you're a monster, then maybe Ross has got the right idea and we could use more."_

_"Shut up."_

_"Only if you will."_

"...therefore is not to be entered into lightly but reverently, passionately…"

Bruce's eyes drifted over to his best friend. Tony noticed and met his gaze. It was warm and inviting, just like him. He smiled because without Tony, he would have run back into hiding. Maybe that fateful day HYDRA had taken him never would have happened. Maybe Ross would have captured him again. No, Tony had promised…

_"You're thinking of running aren't you?" Tony stood near the door of Bruce's apartment, looking studiously at Bruce who sat on his couch with head in hand. "Getting bored, Dr. Banner? Losing faith? Need to go take a spiritual journey through—"_

_"I'm not in the mood, Tony," Bruce warned. He then looked up. "General Ross threatened—"_

_"Yeah, look. I got it." Tony raised his hands. "And it's your decision. It always has been even if I failed to make that clear."_

_Bruce snorted somewhat dismissively. "You sort of did, yeah."_

_"Uh-huh. Well, as I was saying, it's your decision, but frankly it's a stupid ass decision."_

_Bruce shook his head, exasperated fondness showing on his face in spite of the situation. "That sounds like something Fury would say."_

_"And he'd be right." Tony grimaced as he said it. "Because you step out that door and we can't protect you."_

_"This isn't about protecting **me** , Tony!" Bruce stood up, amusement turning to annoyance. "It's about protecting **you** … And the team. As long as I can get out of the country, he won't find me."_

_"You don't know that," Tony argued back as he moved into the room, determination in his steps. "Fury says he held Ross off while you were off playing Dr. Zhivago. Do you really think he's going to do that a second time? **It's Fury**." Bruce turned his head away, shaking it. "He wants you here where he can keep you in his line of sight. Do you really think he wouldn't let Ross drag you back if it made that play easier? Because I don't. And damn it, I told you I'm not letting that bastard anywhere near you."_

_"There's nothing you can do, Tony," Bruce hissed, looking back at the stubborn engineer. "It's a risk I have to take. What part of that don't you get?"_

_"The part where you don't trust me," Tony answered._

_"I do trust you." Bruce sighed, but then fixed a sad gaze on Tony. "I trust you to do something stupid. I trust you to get yourself hurt when I'm… I know you, Tony."_

_"Then you know I'll just trail you myself and hold them off any way I have to." Bruce blinked. "I'm just asking you not to make it that difficult and give me a chance. Please, Bruce. Give your team a chance."_

"If any person can show just cause—"

"Me."

Bruce was broken from his reverie, smile falling and forehead creasing, at the sound of Betty's soft voice objecting to their marriage. He turned his head sharply to look at her. She was already looking at him, only minimally apologetic as far as he could tell.

"I don't… understand," he said honestly, looking back and forth between Betty and the priest and… _Tony_.

Did she find out about the kiss? Did she think he was cheating on her? Did she think he was still too confused about his feelings?

"I object," she said again, louder, murmurs now rippling through the crowd.

"Okay." Bruce nodded, feeling his stomach tie into knots – almost ironic, really. "Why?"

He moved so that he was just looking at her, searching her eyes. She searched his back as if making a study of him. She looked like she did in the lab, trying to solve a puzzle.

"Because we're not in love with each other anymore," she answered and then, as if it were one of those romantic films they sometimes watched together, she hurried back down the aisle, guests gasping and murmuring all the louder.

For a moment Bruce didn't know what he was supposed to do. His instinct was to look at Tony. The other man's eyes were wide with equal shock, but then he seemed to recall his senses first and nodded in the direction Betty had gone. _Right_. He should run after her. That was how these things worked.

So he quickly followed after Betty, pushing past the stunned guests that had moved into the makeshift aisle. He saw her pacing around the gazebo near the pavilion where their small reception was to be held. He hurried down the path that led to it.

"Betty, we need to talk about this," he said without prelude as he joined her.

She huffed, a hint of humor in it. "Took you long enough to follow."

"You just left me at the altar," he replied defensively to that, gesturing with one hand at himself and spreading the other out in the direction of where the ceremony was supposed to be taking place. "I was a little too stunned to react right away. And what do you mean we're not in love anymore? How do you figure something like that out halfway through your wedding vows?"

"No, no, I knew it before." Her shoulders tensed up nearer to her ears as she talked. "I was just hoping I was wrong." Then she deflated again and looked him squarely in the eye. "I was trying to hold on to something we had and so were you. Although maybe you didn't even realize what was going on. I can't tell. But it wouldn't be the first time."

He knew what she meant. This time he couldn't pretend like he didn't have the slightest clue. The past two weeks had been an emotional nightmare, confusing, but never once had he jumped to the conclusion that he wasn't still in love with Betty. It had never gone that far – which would have actually made things easier in retrospect had he reached the same conclusion she had.

"Look, I'm not going to lie to you. And I know I should have been honest with you from the get go. When I was still with the Avengers… I thought there was something there between Tony and me. And I even wanted there to be something. I was attracted to him. I might still be attracted to him. I don't know. No, I mean, yes I am still, but… It's one of those confusing best friend things maybe. We have chemistry. You know how weird chemicals are better than anyone." Her shoulders slumped and she frowned at him, but he kept going. "The point is, I never thought I'd see you again. I never thought any of this would be possible."

She rolled her eyes slightly and shook her head. "That doesn't mean it's something you still want."

"I have always wanted us, Betty. You know that."

"Except for when you wanted Tony," she countered logically and he clenched his jaw.

"Okay, yes, I wanted Tony," he hissed. "But you weren't part of the picture at that time and I didn't think you ever would be again. I was trying to move on and I _really_ cared about him!" She tilted her head and he realized what he'd said. He closed his eyes. "Okay, yeah." He could admit it now that he'd said it aloud. "Yes, I really, really cared about him. He wasn't just someone I was trying to use to forget you."

"Because you had already let me go when you met him," she said in her knowing tone of voice. He blinked, unsure of if he had a response for that. "Bruce, I've seen you with him. That's why I'm calling this off. I should have called it off _last_ week," she said it with a sad laugh.

"Why?" He needed to know what she'd seen. He was a scientist at heart and he needed outside data.

She nodded her head sideways, averting her gaze and he turned to follow it. Standing far enough down the path that he probably couldn't hear them, but still close enough to keep an eye on them or prevent anyone from harassing them, was Tony. His back was turned and his hands were in his pockets and he bounced on his feet every now and then as though anxious. He smiled at the sight. Of course Tony would be the one to follow, to make sure they were okay.

"That," Betty said, drawing his gaze back to her. "That's why." He furrowed his brow. "You look at him like he's the only person in the world."

"I—"

"You do, Bruce. You don't even realize it, but you do. And you've never looked at me like that once since we've gotten back together. I don't even remember when you ever did look at me like that, I'm sure you did once, but that's what I want _now_. I want you or, well, somebody to look at me like that. I want to look at somebody like that and I'm not afraid to admit that I don't even know if that somebody is you. I love you, Bruce, but this isn't right for us."

"How can you say that?" It was too overwhelming.

So, he looked at Tony like he was the only person in the world? He couldn't help it that Tony had that general effect on people, let alone people who cared for him.

"Because one of us has to say it. And you weren't going to because it's you." He balked a little at that. She didn't need to add insult to injury. She could have called it off sooner, she'd said as much. "You're so stubborn, Bruce Banner. And pretty thick sometimes."

"Betty, I think you're being—"

"Look at me." He didn't dare refuse her. "You and I weren't really together for almost ten years, Bruce. _Ten years_. And you managed to care about someone else in less than one. Now tell me right now. Theoretically, if marrying me meant you couldn't see _Tony_ again for ten years—"

"Oh my god." She didn't even have to finish the question.

His stomach lurched at the thought and his heart thumped uncontrollably. He quickly looked back at where Tony still stood. He'd turned slightly so that Bruce could see his face. His wonderful, beautiful face that…

Tony hazarded a glance over at them just then and their eyes met. Tony offered him an encouraging smile before turning away again.

…that he _loved_.

He turned back to look at Betty and he was sure he must look comical and terrified both at the realization.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered and it was the truth. He should have realized sooner. It all made sense now. He shouldn't have done this to her. 

"It's okay, Bruce. I'm sorry too. I was trying to hold on just as much as you were."

"I didn't know it was that. I... I don't even know what I'm supposed to do with that," he admitted, because he needed to confide in someone and Betty had always been good for that even when they'd still only been friends.

She laughed softly. "It's not like being in love with Tony Stark is the end of the world, Bruce. He doesn't seem like how the tabloids make him out to be."

He tried for a small smile, but fell just short. "It is when it hits you how badly you want something you can't have." And if that wasn't the story of his life, then what was? Well, at least it was a consistent theme. Monotonous, but consistent.

"Oh no," Betty suddenly giggled and that confused the hell out of him if he were being honest. "Oh, please, don't tell me you think he's not in love with you."

"He's not," he replied firmly, sadly; he wasn't even sure which.

"Do you really think I would have given you up without a fight if I thought it wasn't mutual?" He didn't know how to respond to that question other than letting his mouth fall open a little like a fish. " _Bruce._ He looks at you the _same way_."

"What?" His heart stuttered at the thought and he dared a quick glance back at the man.

"And I'm pretty sure the last two weeks have been terrible for him," she continued.

Bruce attempted to get his bearings as his mind swirled with emotions and memories and logic and doubt and hope. It didn't make sense. Why would he have just let him go, then? Did he not know then?

"I don't have a lot of reason to believe you," he finally answered.

"Maybe because reason has nothing to do with it," she said with a shrug. Then she crossed the distance between them and pulled him into a hug. "I will always care about you, Bruce Banner. And I'm going to tell you what I told you a long time ago in case you've forgotten, but I know you haven't so humor me." Her voice was soft and reassuring. He was sure it was one of the most ethereal voices in existence. "Stop thinking with your head and think with your heart for a change. What's the worst that could happen?"

She pulled away and there was a sparkle in her eyes, challenging him. Because she knew. She knew better than most anyone that he preferred to think with his head because whenever he thought with his heart, it seemed like nothing good ever came from it. Then again, he'd thought with his heart the day he'd accepted Tony's invitation to Candy-land. He'd thought with his heart every time he'd let Tony talk him into staying. So, maybe Tony was the secret to making that part of him work.

"Thanks," he finally said, maybe lamely but he meant it. "I'll always care about you too."

"Good. Now I'll go start placating the guests, but we'll have to take care of all the damage together so don't stay away too long." He was grateful she didn't expect him to follow right away. He needed a moment to steady himself after everything. "And I guess we can still hold the reception since we've already paid for the food."

He snorted. "A 'congratulations, you're not getting married' party."

"How many people can say they had one where the bride and groom were still friends, huh?" She asked in good humor and then left him alone.

He moved to the back of the gazebo and stared out at the botanical garden. It really was a lovely venue. It was the dream wedding Betty had always wanted, though on a smaller scale because they'd hurried things. He hadn't even really proposed. There hadn't even been an engagement ring; that was maybe a good thing in hindsight. But even on a smaller scale, she had wonderful taste. It would have been magical.

He'd always pictured a traditional church wedding, maybe because he was unimaginative, but outdoors in a park was nice too. He'd also suggested a beach at random, but time and budget and Betty's vision had all put a quick damper on that one spark of imagination he'd had; he really hadn't minded though.

He knew Tony was somewhere behind him now. He felt eyes and he knew the one person they would belong to. He didn't turn to face him though. He just waited in silence, alone with his thoughts and feelings and longing, for Tony to make the first move if any. It was safer this way.

"She's called it off then?" Tony's voice was soft and warm and sympathetic and Bruce wanted to melt in it the same way he'd melted in the thought of Tony loving him as deeply as he now knew he loved Tony.

"Yeah," he mumbled, still not turning to look at him.

"Is it too cliché to say she's the craziest woman in the world then? To give you up?"

Bruce felt his heart constrict, daring to hope.

"Tony…"

He breathed deeply, a habit left over from his time dealing with the Other Guy. For a minute he let all of his emotions settle in as deep as he could feel them. He felt the warm summer breeze that blew on occasion. He heard the soft, indistinct murmur of guests in the distance, no doubt all wondering why they'd been put out. There was even a lark singing somewhere near enough for its cliché presence to add to the moment. He wasn’t going to marry the only person he'd ever planned on spending forever with and yet everything felt bright and blue and wonderful.

"Bruce?" A cautious whisper.

And maybe it felt that way because Betty was right. Maybe it was because he'd planned on forever with the wrong person. Maybe it was because he hadn't planned on Tony Stark.

Safer be damned.

"Tony, what do you see when you look at me?" His tone was still low, barely more than a whisper as well.

He had to ask. He had to be sure. His life had been a series of false-starts and stolen dreams. It was still too much to hope that Betty was right and that he hadn't just needlessly lost her like everything else he'd ever been forced to give up. But he still had to ask, had to know.

"Balance."

Bruce turned on his heel and met with the eyes of a man who _was_ looking at him as if he were the only person in the world. Tony's eyes were soft and tentative and sparkled with love... love… for _him_. Bruce felt frozen in place as he looked down at where the billionaire stood, hands in his pockets, at the bottom of the two stairs that led to the gazebo.

He wasn't certain how much time passed before Tony spoke again, looking up at him through impossibly long eyelashes, still tentative and vulnerable.

"You're the balance to my side of the equation, Bruce. I don't work without you. And maybe that's a selfish reason to love a person, but it's like you're the only person who makes sense of me and makes sense of the world. Hell, you made sense of love itself. I didn't know what that was. The minute I shook your hand it was just there…" Tony's hands moved up as if trying to animate how he felt to make it clearer. "There was balance."

"Balance," Bruce echoed. He nodded. "You brought balance to my life too, Tony. I just didn't know… Or maybe I did and I was scared. Maybe I thought..." He finally found the courage to move a few feet forward. Or maybe Tony had moved toward him. "I was so determined to have what I thought I'd lost when the Other Guy happened, I didn't see what I'd found because of him."

"I didn't give you much of a reason to think you'd found anything worth keeping." Tony shook his head, standing a few feet away from him, both in the gazebo now.

"Yes you did," Bruce countered sharply, though his voice was still hushed. Maybe they'd both been a little lost, Tony a little confused, but that didn't mean there was nothing. "You gave me so much. Maybe we didn't know what to call it back then, but you loved me even when I was the Other Guy. And that wasn't enough for you. You wanted me to love me too. You wanted me to strut. Only a fool doesn't fight to keep something like that. And I didn't fight. I should have."

"You're not a fool," Tony protested, but it was low and tinged with what sounded like guilt. "I was. I was just trying so hard not to hurt anyone else. I was just trying so hard to get it right this time."

"Maybe we both were," Bruce said with a small smile, knowing all too well how that felt. 

There was a long minute of silence between them as they studied one another then. Even the sounds of distant chatter and singing birds were swallowed up by the emotion that encompassed them. It felt to Bruce like a bubble that might pop at any moment, but not in a way that would ruin them. It felt warm and tight and suffocating in all the ways he'd once grown accustom to, but instead of rage there was only love. He wondered for the first time if the two polar emotions weren't so far removed after all – both running on the same quantum field of passion.

"Would you have stayed? Would you have stayed if I'd had the nerve to tell you?" Tony searched his eyes in earnest.

"I don't know," he answered honestly.

Tony didn't seem to be upset by his answer and closed the gap, an open hand coming to rest on Bruce's cheek. He leaned into the touch. He leaned into the hand that had grown so familiar to him in the lab, on his shoulder, out in the field (and they would have to talk about Tony quitting the team haphazardly, but that wasn't really where his mind was at in the moment). Then he placed his own hand on Tony's cheek and for a moment they stood like a mirror. 

"The day you asked me to be your best man was the worst day of my life." Tony's voice was as broken and desperate as he knew the tears that brimmed in his own eyes must look. "I knew right then that I didn't want to be your _best_ man. I wanted to be _your_ man."

Bruce swallowed hard against the emotion that threatened to choke him and he smiled.

"Thank you for saying yes anyway."

Then his hand found the back of Tony's neck in a dexterous motion and the engineer understood, both bringing their lips to meet in the middle. Two sides of an equation, balancing perfectly as their kiss seemed to speak their equal promises of rearranged plans and a shared forever.

Two men at their best together.

**Author's Note:**

> I love Betty so much. One of these days maybe I'll write a story where she gets to be with Bruce. (If I keep writing that is. So much writing insecurity right now though sigh.) Also, as I was writing this, I kept wanting to make the Hulk disappearance a macguffin because like Tony I was thinking, "NO HULK COME BACK!" 
> 
> Anyhow, I hope this was at least semi enjoyable or at the very least coherent (/headdesk). I had originally outlined another two stories (where Hulk would probably come back) and a sort of interlude one shot to go with this, but I don't think that's going to happen at this rate. The only thing important to know that would have been explained (that was only implied in this story) is that Tony pulled away from Bruce even after they kissed because he wouldn't have been able to stop himself if he hadn't; he was truly under the impression that Bruce was just being reckless and he didn't want to ruin his wedding (aka convoluted reasoning lol).


End file.
